The group controls an army of child soldiers, which it calls "cubs of the caliphate," and seeks to re-educate children at ISIS-run schools, drugging some of them, exposing children to violent acts, including beheadings in an effort to create a young army of suicide bombers.

The photos from August showed the boy in tears as police restrained him and cut off his suicide vest.

ISIS has a track record of using children in their terrorist attacks. Just before the incident in Kirkuk, a teenage bomber blew up a wedding in Turkey killing at least 54 people.

In addition, a gruesome attack at a Baghdad soccer game last March killed 29 people and wounded 60, with many of the victims children, officials said. The bomber was believed to be a teenager.